Hot-air furnace



J. H. HONERT ET AL HOT AIR FURNACE Filed June 3,' 1940 2 Sheets-Sheet. 1'

July 25, 1944.

J. H. HONERT 151- AL HOT- AIR FURNACE July 25, 1944.

2 sheets-sheet 2 Filed June 3, 1940 r IiliiIll l Patented July 25,1944

. HOT-AIR FURNACE JosephH. Honert. Otto A. Reinhardt, and Walter J. Reinhardt, Chicago, 111.; said Otto A. Reinhardt and said Walter J. Reinhardt assignors to said Honert Application June 3, 1940, Serial N0. 338,546

2 Claims.

'Ihis invention relates to improvements in heating equipment for homes, apartments, stores *andthe like and its object is to provide forcedair heating systems for furnaces that are automatically controlled for comfort and economic operation. The system is adapted for use as a gas fired or oil burning'plant.

One object is to provide a heating system adapted to efficiently withstand the stresses and strains incident to the use of intermittently opcrating systems which are coming more and more into use. A further object is to provide a forcedair heating system wherein the air from the intake is conducted over a maximum area of heating surface so'that it is heated to a very high degree with the minimum of fuel consumption before it is released into the quarters to be heated. A further object is to provide a heating system wherein the air-heating area is efficiently insulated from the air outside the plant and also one wherein the friction caused by the forced travel of the heating medium is reduced to the minimum and dead air spots in the travel path eliminated.

A still further object is to provide a completely welded, one piece furnace entirely without gaskets in assembly thus preventing distortion, avoiding gas leakage and fumesin any part of the structure served, openings from one portion of the furnace to another being ample and substantially uniform so that the strains and stresses incident to wide and -rapid changes of temperature avoid cracking of the structure which may take place in furnaces employing gaskets, rivets and similar fastening means which are wholly inadequate when the furnaces are subjected to the ordinary requirements of the public. It is utterly impossible to construct a durable efiicient furnace having contracted portions or openings leading from one part of the furnace to another and depending upon gaskets and rivets and the like to prevent distortion and breakage when the parts connected are expanded andcontracted'in non-uniform manner due to material difierences in size and rapid temperature changes which are not uniform throughout the structure. It is the purpose of the present furnace to completely, substantially and effectually avoid such faulty construction thus providing a trouble-free unit that isdependable, long lived and inexperisive in assembly.

. A further object is to provide a system of this type that maybe used in warm weather as an,

air conditioning system to cause air circulation throughout the structure served, means being provided for the elimination of dirt, dust and extraneous matter generally from the air.

In many former furnaces of the intermittent heat type, during off periods the air flow is reversed as the furnace, when examined closely, is found to be of faulty construction. In the present furnace the cooling is gradual, there is no possible reversal of the air flow as the air-forcing medium becomes inoperative as soon asthe temperature of the air in the air jacket falls to a predetermined point, the stack is always comparatively cool and only warm air is circulated ircughout the structure.

With the foregoing'and other objectsin view the invention consists in the combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter fully described, pointed out in the claims and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Fig. 1 is a side view of a heating system constructed according to the present inventioz'nparts being broken away to afford a better illustration.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view partly in section taken on the line 22 of Fig. l.

Fig. 3 is a front view of Fig.1.

Fig. 4 is a top plan view of Fig. 3. I

Fig. 5 is a central vertical sectional view through the furnace proper, the jacket being omitted.

Fig. 6 is an enlarged longitudinal centraLsectional view through an exhaust pipe illustrating the bi-metallic damper employed,

Fig. 7 is a view of Fig. 6 in end elevation.

Like reference characters denote corresponding parts throughout the several views.

The furnace includes a body or fire chamber I of cylindrical shape, open at it upper end and closed at its base to form the floor 2, said chamber being formed contiguous to its floor with the opening 3 and substantially thereabovewith a door opening within which is fitted the square collar4. Within the chamber 1 the. oil orfuel burner 5 is arranged, combustion starting at a point about ten inches above theyfloor 2.

Disposed upon, integral and communicating radiator and header exhaust is a double walled shell ID, the walls ll, I2 thereof being spaced apart to form a dead air insulation space, said shell having a rounded top complementary to the top portion of the combustion dome and being oblong in body cross section with its walls rising from a floor portion I3 so that a considerable air chamber is formed within the shell below the header exhaust. An air circulation space III is formed between the wall I2 of the shell and the furnace body as well as between the corn- ;bustion dome, radiator. header exhaust and said .walland between the several tubes of the radiator.

"Communicatin with the combustion dome 6 .and leading tothe stack I5 is the exhaust pipe I6 providedwith the thermostatic cross damper TI preferably of oval shape with the spindle through the center and about said spindle a bimetallic coil I8 is wound which, expanded by the heated gases closes the damper thus preventing the escape of said gases, but below a predeterminedtemperature will contract and open the damper in a well known manner to permit the escape of unburned gases through the stack during cold or relatively cool periods of the furnace and chimney.

Also communicating with the stack I5 at the lower end thereof is the exhaust pipe I9 extending :into the header 8. Communicating with the air circulating space I4 immediately above the combustion dome is the warm air conduit 20 that leads, in conventional manner, to the room registers, not shown; said conduit being provided with theconventional furnacestat 2 I Arranged within a blower casing 22 secured to one wall, preferably the rear wall, of the furnace shell is the fanhousing 23 having therewithin a fan driven by the motor 24 suitably supported upon said housing, or elsewhere, within or without the casing 22, said fan housing having a preferably flexible extension 25 extending through said casing and through the furnace and registering with the interior thereof immediately below the header 8, said blower casing being provided interiorly and adjacent the top thereof with the inclined removable air filters 2'6, 21 supported in suitable angle pieces secured to the casing wall, 'said casing being provided. also with a removable or hinged door 28 to provide access to the interior,

and with a sliding door 29 which when in open,

,dotted line, position provides a cold air intake.

Communicating with the interior of the'blower casing through a perforation in the top wall thereof and snugly fitted to a collar 30 about said perforation is the air return conduit 3| through which air from the rooms in the structure served is conducted into the blower casing to be directed by the fan into the furnace air circulating area I 4. Referring again to the furnace shell the same is aper'tured to receive the square collar 4 to which the access door 32 is secured that affords access to the interior of the body I and to the burner 5, said shell also being perforated in line with the furnace body perforation 3 to receive the removable frame 33 provided with a removable screen 34 through which air may enter the furnace to the burner.

In operation air from the structure served is received from the conduit 3| into the blower casing and when the burner is started an air circulation is set up within the furnace body which air together with gases from the burner, more or less consumed, passes into and through the combustion dome. At low temperature the damper I1 is open and some of these gases pass out through,

the stack while the remainder pass through the radiator tubes and into the header 8 and out through the pipe I 9 into the stack and out through the chimney. Air in the passageway I4 is thereby heated and a circulation set up, this heated air passing through the conduit 20 into the rooms served and being returned through conduit 3| to the blower casing from which it is blown into the furnace shell again immediately below and all about the header 8 which is very hot, as are the radiator tubes and combustion dome, and this air circulating about the large area of heated surfaces exposed thereto is raised very quickl to a relatively high temperature, and when this air in circulation throughout the system described attains a certain temperature it is subjected automatically to blower operation thus insuring its delivery to all parts of the structure served in a positive manner. After the burner has been shut down by the room thermostat and the circulating air has dropped to a certain temperature the blower will be stopped automatically so that very cool or cold air will not be blown through the system into and through the structure served. It will be observed that the air being heated is exposed fully to the full exterior surface of the header 8 and to the full exterior surfaces of all of the radiator tubes, to the full exterior surface of the combustion dome 6 and all about the exterior surface of the furnace body I so that the maximum efficiency is obtained from the consumption of a given quantity of fuel without the creation of dead air spots at any point.

The double wall shell surrounding the furnace structure provides the maximum insulation for the furnace proper, prevents heat loss at any point and reduces the fire hazard to the minimum. In warm weather the fuel burner is not in operation and then the fan is adapted to be driven by starting the electric motor 24 to force cool air through the system and into the structure served thus keeping it at a relatively low temperature and free from dead air spots or areas in the rooms. The removable screens or filters provided in the system cleanse the circulating air and substantially eliminate the deposit of dirt and extraneous matter from the structure decorations and surfaces.

What is claimed is:

1. In a hot air furnace, a cylindrical body portion, an integral combustion dome semi-circular in cross section disposed upon and extending across the upper end of said body, the diameter of said dome at its junction with said body being greater than the diameter of said body the upper end of which is received wholly in the face of said dome, a radiator integral with said combustion dome communicating therewith in juxtaposed relation to said body, an integral header communicating with said radiator and disposed at right angles thereto, a shell encompassing said members in spaced relation thereto, said shell comprising two walls spaced apart, an air conduit entering said shell immediately adjacent said combustion dome, and an air return conduit communicating with said shell immediately adjacent said header, said members forming a one-piece construction, the openings between the several members being non-obstructed.

2. In a hot air furnace, a cylindrical body portion, an integral combustion dome semi-circular in cross section disposed facially upon and extending across the upper end of said body, the transverse diameter of said dome at its junction with said body being greater than the diameter of said 1 body the-upper end of which is received wholly in the face of said dome, a radiator integral with said combustion dome communicating therewith in juxtaposed relation to said body, an integral air return conduit communicating with said shell immediately adjacent said header, said members forming a one-piece construction, the openings 10 between the several members being unobstructed.

JOSEPH H. HONERT. OTTO A. REINHARDT. WALTER J. REINHARDT 

